Amanda, a 16-year-old mountain lion who had been a fixture at the Orange County Zoo, died Monday, county parks officials said. “Amanda was greatly beloved by staff, volunteers and zoo visitors. She will be greatly missed,” a statement the Orange County Parks website read Monday afternoon. She was found as an orphan cub in Amador County in Northern California. California Department of Fish and Wildlife couldn’t release her into the wild because she was too young to survive on her own, so she was housed at the Orange County Zoo, park officials stated. The Orange County Zoo is inside Irvine Regional Park and is a home for rescued animals native to the southwest desert. Many of the animals that arrive at the zoo are not released into the wild because of health or socialization issues, officials said. Amanda had back surgery in 2011 to fix a herniated disk. Despite being “quite an elderly cat to have such a procedure,” Amanda recovered well. Earlier this year, Amanda celebrated her 16th birthday with decorations in her enclosure and a special treat.
Ah that's a bummer. Those cats are pretty amazing to view. I wonder if they fed the meat to the other critters? Or snacks for the weekend visitors?
I was there this summer and saw Amanda... she clearly was quite elderly and struggled to move but she was well taken care of by the staff and kids that visited the zoo... sad to hear of her passing but there are two very frisky young lions there to watch. If you folks have not visited the Zoo, please take your kids (even Big kids) and go visit. Support the effort to provide care to injury animals native to California...
Bummer, we used to have annual passes and visited almost every weekend, then ride the train. She was def the star. Also, the annual passes are so incredibly cheap, good for both Irvine and Santa Ana zoo. A must with young kids.
